Large amount of Gen Z workers set to be laid off and replaced by AI, study finds

Artificial intelligence is shaping up to drastically change the way we work, and a new study has found that large numbers of employers are planning to lay off Gen Z and replace them with AI.

Gen Z workers which have only recently been hired are at risk, new research undertaken by workplace resource platform Intelligent.com states.

78 per cent of the 800 hiring managers in the US who took part in the study said that their company would be making layoffs as a result of advances in artificial intelligence.

While the extent of the layoffs might not be quite as extensive as that makes it sound, the research also found that only 22 of the hiring managers said that people who had recently graduated were safe from layoffs due to AI.

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Huy Nguyen is Intelligent's Chief Education and Career Development Advisor. Nguyen said that it was Gen Z staff in new roles who were most at risk – despite the fact that 23 per cent of the companies who said layoffs would be made said that less than three per cent would be let go.

Nguyen said in the report: "Many recent graduates are hired to fill entry-level roles that involve information-related tasks such as research, data entry, customer service, and general office assistance.

"While these entry-level positions provide people entering the workforce for the first time with crucial experience, they are also the ones that are most easily replaced by artificial intelligence."

The research showed that 11 of the companies planned to cut 15 to 30 percent of their newly graduated employees, which suggests just how impactful the rise of artificial intelligence will be on the workforce of the future.

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